Official Review: Wave to Papa by Erin Lee

[rachel_bruhn]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Wave to Papa" by Erin Lee.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Wave to Papa by Erin Lee is a fictional story inspired by real life events. Lee has a master's degree in psychology and works with at-risk families as well as being a court appointed advocate for children. This line of work has introduced the author to many families and children in bad situations. Inspired by those that she has worked with, Lee decided to write a novel about the real struggles that people face to show that it is not all black and white.

At the beginning of Wave to Papa the reader is thrown into Dawn's world as she is leaving the courthouse. You quickly learn that Dawn's husband is being accused of child abuse due to a recent skull fracture and more recently a broken arm that their son has sustained while being with his father. You also learn about Dawn's daughters from her previous marriage: Ruby, who has autism, and Ann, who is in the foster care system. While Dawn's story unfolds, you get to read about everyone else's lives at the same time. Rose is the mother that, despite her history with men, tries to push her daughter to make the right choices. Dan is the uneducated husband with all the best of intentions, but a poor upbringing that interferes with his ability to parent appropriately. You also learn about the life of the foster mom and her struggles, the determined social worker, and the overworked judge. Although there are many characters and life stories, this book is mostly about Dawn's struggle to learn what it takes to be a good mother and learning that sometimes that isn't always as simple as it seems.

I was drawn to this book because I too have a master's in psychology and have worked with a similar population described here. I have seen the struggles Lee describes and, unfortunately, the happy ending that closes Wave to Papa is so few and far between in reality. This type of job can become discouraging. I am impressed by Lee's continued passions and motivation to help those that cannot help themselves. This story is truly moving and inspirational. I loved how she changed perspectives throughout the book, because it helps the reader see that some things are not just black and white. It is easy to form an opinion about someone based on their actions, but being able to also see that same situation from their perspective sheds light on other factors that have played a role.

Lee follows up her story with discussion questions, which makes me think that the target audience for this book would be professionals in this field and/or people that can relate to Dawn's story and are in need of guidance. Professionals could use this book to learn about seeing things from a different perspective and being able to empathize with a family that they are working with instead of judging them for continued poor decision making. Parents that end up working with social workers could also learn from this story about making tough choices to reach their goals. It is hard for people living in poverty to take advice from the "rich social worker" who can't possibly understand their situation. In this way, it would be easy for readers to relate to Dawn and recognize many of the same struggles they face.

Hands down, Wave to Papa by Erin Lee has earned 4 out of 4 stars! This piece is excellently written with only a couple of mistakes. If I were going to provide constructive criticism to help improve the book, and future books, I would suggest making chapter titles more consistent. At first it seemed like the titles were identifying the perspective for that chapter, but in later chapters the perspectives changed during the chapter and the titles seemed to identify what was taking place in that chapter.

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Wave to Papa
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[zeldas_lullaby]

Wow, interesting review. This book sounds way too "real life" for me. I like a little bit of escapism in my books. However, this sounds like a great book. Kudos to the author for writing about real issues. It must be really overwhelming to do that kind of work as described in this book.

[rachel_bruhn]

This was a first for me as a reviewer. I too like using books to take a break from reality and jump into a fantasy world. I was curious about this book because of my experience working with a similar population. It truly is such a tough job, but I know that Lee must actually take time to build relationships with the people she works with to write something so close to reality. It is so easy for people to blame parents like Dawn and Dan for their poor choices, but there are case workers out there that actually want to try to help a family get better. I am an optimist when it comes to helping kids and families and unfortunately I had more cases where the parents did nothing to change and the child continued to suffer. I love the connection that Dawn finds with her court appointed therapist. Having the right person to help you makes all the difference, and that's what I would always tell people that I worked with. Lee has also written, and published, another book: Crazy Like Me. I can't wait to read it!

[zeldas_lullaby]

I've worked at residential treatment facilities, and it is in vogue these days to try to fix the family unit rather than try to keep kids separated from their parents longer than necessary. Unfortunately, the worst parents in the world are the ones who don't make an effort to overcome whatever it is. It's disgusting, really. The system still tries to reunite the family and/or keep them together, but all of that pressure to "cope" lands on the kids, many of whom try so darned hard that I want five minutes alone with their parents, if you catch my drift. That is a broad generalization--of course there are parents who make a concerted, genuine effort; work with their caseworker, etc. That's all you can really ask for. Anyways, I'm not sure where I was going with this. But this does seem like a good book if it offers an optimistic view!!

[HalcyonFlower]

This sounds like an incredibly depressing read...people working in that field have to be so emotionally strong eh. Thanks for the wonderful review and bringing attention to this novel!